Words & Photography by Raj Hunjan
A staggering 70% of Botswana is desert, the Kalahari to be more specific. Some of the rest is inland delta created by run off rainfall from Angola Highlands. During the “dry” winter months of June to August the delta expands to three times the permanent size and the water level rises significantly attracting a huge amount of wildlife in Africa. Botswana is located to the North West of South Africa so it is easy to travel via Johannesburg from London and the rest of Europe.
I visited a very specific part of the Okavango Delta in Botswana, one of the only places where you can see the delta on horseback Okavango Horse Safaris have over 70 horses that live on the delta. They swim between their stables as a herd to grazing areas on nearby islands. Just witnessing this herd in the water is truly magnificent.
During my stay, the water level was very high making vehicle traversing extremely difficult. There is much more freedom and flexibility on horseback. Low rivers with a weak current are easy to cross on a horse. Also the other animals are more relaxed if you are on horseback rather than a game drive vehicle so you can get closer and see the animals with their guard down. I travelled to the delta with my partner and whilst she was riding the horses I went on walking safaris, Mokoro boat exploring and some game drives. Mokoro’s are small wooden boats powered by a man with a long wooden pole.
My favourite and most unforgettable moment was actually on the last morning. The rest of the group were having a short horse ride before our helicopters came to pick us up from camp for the short flight to the airstrip. I was given the option to go fishing or have a short walking safari on a nearby island so I chose the walk. As we were travelling to the island by Mokoro, my guide told me that the island we were going to was very small and the most we would see is birds and trees. We travelled through the reeds to the island and as soon as we stepped off the boat we found fresh elephant dung and impressions on the ground where an elephant had been sleeping. The guide said it was fresh from the night before.
We started to walk around the edge of the island, following the huge tracks that led away from the bed. We found a young bull elephant in the reeds just off the island. He was grazing on bushes growing in the water. We watched and followed the elephant as it continued grazing for about 40 minutes. Luckily there was no wind and although the elephant could see us, we were ok to stay around 30 metres behind a tree because he relies on smell to identify us as being human (and therefore a possible threat). As long as there was no wind and we kept quiet we could stay with him.
The closeness of an elephant on foot really blew me away. You feel incredibly vulnerable compared to being in a game drive vehicle and have to rely on the judgement of your guide to make sure you don’t end up in a difficult position.
The Okavango Horse Safaris experience is truly amazing and suited perfectly to experienced riders who want to see Africa in a unique way. The service the staff and guides provide make you feel incredibly special and looked after. They thought of everything and made it even easier to relax and enjoy the experience. Despite my lack of riding, my itinerary was just as busy as my partners and it was great to do different parts of the delta in the morning then meet for lunch and afternoon activities.
